In the mid-1980s, Annie Lennox was a standout in pop music. Decked out in orange spiky hair, she and her equally eccentric partner Dave Stewart formed the electropop duo The Eurythmics, which scored big hits with Sweet Dreams, Love is A Stranger and Sex Crime. In 1992, Lennox embarked on a solo career, adding a slightly warmer and organic sound to her hypothermic but soulful vocals, with the hit
… Why? (1992) as a direct result. Lennox's career has since been on the back burner, it took no less than eight years after the cover album Medusa (1995) to come up with a successor. On Bare - the title refers to the way in which she exposes herself through her songs - the unmistakable vocal qualities of Lennox come into their own, although the record does suffer, like much of her work on a certain sterility in the arrangements. In beautiful personal songs like Honestly, however, Lennox leaves no doubt that she is still one of the very best and most recognizable pop singers. (MS)more
